Marcucci got a sure double-play grounder to short, but when Forst switcher hands after stepping on second, he dropped the ball and lost his chance to turn two.
Inexplicably, the infield umpire waved off the force, letting in a run and leaving the bases loaded. Waldron then compounded the damage, driving a two-run double to the left-center gap to plate the last of Wells's runners. First baseman Sean McGowan then grounded an RBI single inside the first base line, and it took a second double-play grounder--handled 6-4-3--to escape the frame trailing 6-2.
"We've definitely got to step up our defense," Carey said. "It seemed like we had bad outfield play in the first game and then really bad infield play in the second. Guys start making errors, and it just gets contagious."
The Crimson bounced back in the bottom of the inning, closing to 6-4 on RBI from Harris and sophomore first baseman Erik Binkowski.
With the sun setting on O'Donnell Field and darkness threatening to cut short the late doubleheader, Harvard staged its biggest comeback of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth, tagging reliever Mike Quirk for five runs on seven hits, in a rally more reminiscent of the 1996 Yankees than the Joe Walsh Crimson.
Carmack got aboard with a bloop single, and Harris reached after Quirk threw wildly to first on his bunt back to the mound.
Following a sacrifice bunt, Carey stroked a double that curled fair down the leftfield line, scoring two. With two outs, Ralph and Woodfork slapped back-to-back doubles and Keck closed the scoring by singling up the middle to plate Woodfork with the fifth run of the inning.
"I felt good hitting in that situation," Carey said. "We really started swinging the bats in that inning, hitting aggressively. It wasn't the kind of rally we usually have--five runs on seven hits--but everybody contributed."
Leading 9-6, Walsh looked to wrap things up and get his ace some work by bringing in junior righthander Andrew Duffell. But Duffell took some time getting into his rhythm, giving up a leadoff homer and loading the bases on a walk, an error and a single.
With the Eagles smelling blood in this seesaw affair, Duffell settled down, freezing Durkin with a change for the second out and blowing a fastball by the hardluck Quirk for his first career save.
"We beat two lefties today," Walsh said. "And that was huge. We hadn't beaten a lefthander this year, and it was good to get off the schnied."
Notes
The Ivy League honored sophomore righthander Derek Lennon, naming his Rookie of the Week for his five and two-thirds shutout innings against Columbia on Saturday, good for his first collegiate win.
Ralph, who is hitting 400 with three homers and six RBI since rejoining the Crimson on Friday, was named to the League Honor Roll.
The left side of the Harvard infield continued its adventurous 1998 campaign. Forst committed three errors and Woodfork two, but the captain went 5-for-7 with a ribbie and two runs scored, and Woodfork went 4-for-9 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Harvard travels to Holy Cross today, and opens its crucial Red Rolfe season at Yale with four games this weekend. HR: BC--Waldron; Harvard--Ralph. 2B: BC--Quirk, Waldron, McGowan, Langone; Harvard--Ralph, Vankoski, Woodfork, Forst. E: BC--Waldron, Hubbard, Gambino 2; Harvard--Forst, McKay, Larocque. WP: Madden (2-0); LP: Nolan (1-1) HR: BC--McGowan, Langone; Harvard--None. 2B: BC--None; Harvard--Relph, Woodfork, Keck, Carey, E: BC--Gannon; Harvard--Woodfork 2, Forst 2, Carey. WP: Marcucci (3-0); LP: Quirk (0-1); S: Duffell (1)